A Flint?

[fpb]

Although the fight scene between Dobby and Kreacher (ch.19 HBP) is very funny indeed, can anyone tell me what two house-elves are doing fist fighting when they (Dobby, at least) have magical powers strong enough to lay Lucius Malfoy flat on his back?

Comments

[bufo-viridis.livejournal.com]

Yanks and Rebs had cannon, rifles and bayonets, they should have dropped all their weapons and settled the Civil War with one gigantic fistfight.

You made a point, but missed it at the same time: if they had cannon, why bother with muskets? If rifles, then why bayonets? Different tools for different occasions, simply. And yes, a few parts of Civil War were settled by fistfight :) Same for later wars actually :)

There are plenty of instances in the books when they come to blows, instead of firing spells. Also, a wand can be likened to a pistol - and sometimes one just want to smack the other one, not kill him outright.
(of course wand/magical power is not always deadly, but has a great possibility of escalation).